Inheritance of Resistance to Permethrin and DDT in the Southern House Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae)

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Abstract
The genetics of resistance to permethrin and DDT in Culex quinquefasciatus Say was investigated using a highly resistant colony obtained through laboratory selection by permethrin. A plateau in the probit regression occurred when progeny of a backcross to the pyrethroid-resistant strain were tested. Hence, resistance to permethrin segregated as if there were a single major gene. The inheritance of resistance to DDT was strongly influenced by additional factors since no similar plateau was seen. When DDT was used with the dehydrochlorinase inhibitor chlorfenethol, DDT resistance segregated according to expectations for a single major recessive gene. Bioassays with DDT analogs revealed similarly high levels of resistance regardless of differences in potential for detoxication by either the mixed function oxidase system or by dehydrochlorination. Therefore, the knockdown resistance gene, kdr, was shown to contribute significantly to resistance toward both permethrin and DDT-type compounds.